Sense of Wonder
Socrates said that wonder is the beginning of wisdom.
It means we acknowledge that we do not have all the answers
and we remember to bow in appreciation of the universe’s bounty, which has been laid at our door.
-Katie Mahon and Joan Luise Hill in The Miracle Collectors
With the end of the year and the holiday season upon us, many of us have taken stock, faced the good and the bad, and if we are lucky can relate to Charles Dickens' words in A Tale of Two Cities, "It was the best of times it was the worst of times." And yet, we have hope, hope for the vaccine, hope that we may one day return to a new normal, hope that we can once again enjoy the company of our family and friends without the benefit of zoom or social media, but in person, holding hands, sharing meals and celebrations. December is traditionally a time of festivity and this month, Joan reveals the importance of finding wonder in this holiday season - it can be as simple as looking up.
Collecting Miracle Moments One Story at a Time.
Joan and Katie
When Katie sent me a link with the title The Great Conjunction, at first, I assumed it was another attempt to correct my grammar - an occupational hazard of being writing partners for the last twenty years! But when I looked closer, I realized it was an article describing the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter to take place on the winter solstice, an event that hadn't occurred this dramatically since the time of Galileo.
Katie knows how much I love looking at the stars and the sense of wonder that overwhelms me whenever I do. The first time I saw the multitude of stars making up the Milky Way in California's Mojave desert, I was mesmerized. I chased Haley's Comet in Las Vegas and while it was less dramatic, the history of its mere existence filled me with awe. This summer, I was thrilled to see the comet Neowise; its tail so easy to find in the night sky, spread out as if it were a giant ice cream cone in the heavens. And now, Jupiter and Saturn together looking to be connected though they are light years apart, I couldn't wait to see it. It was awe-inspiring, a super bright star to the naked eye, and even more rewarding with binoculars and telescope seeing the rings of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter.
Gazing upon these celestial bodies unites us with history: crossing boundaries of countries and continents and binding us together with those who experienced the same sense of wonder in awe of the majesty of the universe from their place in history and life's circumstances, as we do in our own, surrounded by the restrictions and changes to our holiday celebrations wrought by the pandemic.
Perhaps the greatest gift of awe and wonder is this ability to share this commonality of intense feeling with each other. I often recall an event years ago when I was sitting at a production of the play Peter Pan. At one point in the action, things take a turn for the worse as the fairy Tinkerbell drinks the poison meant for Peter and as she succumbs to its power, her light slowly fades. Peter knows the one thing that can save her, and he rallies the audience by cajoling us into acknowledging our own belief in fairies. Without warning, the 7-year old girl behind me stood up on her chair and shouted at the top of her lungs, "I believe." It was a moment that melted even the hardest heart evidenced by the raucous applause that erupted spontaneously.
Whether your celebration this holiday season is the birth of Christ, the festival of lights in Hanukkah and Diwali, or the first fruits of the harvest in Kwanzaa, each has awe at their core. And close to home, the warp speed development of the coronavirus vaccines have been called a miracle of science more than once. It makes me realize how universal and intrinsic to the human condition this notion of wonder really is. Each of these celebrations and realities take us out of ourselves, makes the world a little bigger, a little brighter, and allows us to look for, and hopefully find, our own sense of wonder, making the words of J. M. Barrie ring true, "All the world is made of faith and trust and pixie dust." This holiday season may our hearts stay open to the wonder that surrounds us. (Joan)